Systems and methods for enhanced situational awareness and auto TOGA

Abstract

A method in an aircraft is disclosed. The method includes: arming an automatic TOGA flight operating mode when a predetermined condition has been detected, and monitoring for a TOGA trigger condition. When operating in a first mode, the method includes: generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew, advising that an automatic TOGA will be executed, and triggering and causing the TOGA to be executed. When operating according in a second mode, the method includes: generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew, advising the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA, and triggering and causing the TOGA to be executed if the flight crew did not trigger the TOGA. When operating in a third mode, generating, and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew and advising the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A flight deck system in an aircraft, the flight deck system comprising a controller, the controller configured to:
 implement a TOGA (take-off and go-around) triggering function having a first mode, a second mode and a third mode during approach or landing operations; 
 provide an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA trigger condition; 
 override an automatically triggered or coordinately triggered TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew action to override TOGA arming; 
 monitor aircraft data and sensor data for a runway targeted for landing for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a potential incursion threat includes one or more of another aircraft, a ground vehicle, an animal, trash, debris, or a rock; 
 monitor aircraft state information for a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat comprises one or more of: an aircraft hard bounce during an attempted landing; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by altitude over a threshold level; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by longer flare; a predicted aircraft long or short landing caused by a reason leading to an un-stabilized approach; a late, non-deployed, or inappropriate use of a deceleration device; an airspeed being considerably higher than a proposed approach speed for the runway; a rate of descent that is too high for a required rate of decent for landing at 3 degree slope; a dangerously excessive wind shear; a landing configuration issue; a landing gear extension problem or delay; a bank angle being too high during approach; a pitch angle being too high during approach; or a flight critical parameter being inconsistent during approach; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in the first mode, generate and cause a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of a detected trigger condition and advises that an automatic TOGA maneuver will be executed, trigger and cause the automatic TOGA maneuver to be executed if the automatic TOGA maneuver has not been overridden by flight crew action, and override the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in the second mode, generate and cause a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver, trigger and cause a TOGA maneuver to be executed if the flight crew neither manually triggers nor overrides execution of an automatic TOGA maneuver within a predetermined period of time, and override the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; and 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in the third mode, generate and cause a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver. 
 
     
     
       2. The flight deck system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the first mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function with sufficient flight integrity to automatically carry out TOGA for the aircraft; 
 the second mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the second mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function with sufficient flight integrity to carry out TOGA for the aircraft with flight crew preference for triggering TOGA, and 
 the third mode is used when sufficient flight integrity is not existing for an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function. 
 
     
     
       3. The flight deck system of  claim 1 , wherein to provide an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA condition the controller is configured to provide a predetermined trigger condition overriding time for the flight crew to use to override a trigger condition before the TOGA triggering function acts on a determination that a trigger condition has been detected, wherein when overridden, the TOGA triggering function disables the detection of the specific TOGA condition. 
     
     
       4. The flight deck system of  claim 1 , wherein to monitor for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat, the controller is configured to monitor object detection data for a runway targeted for landing for a potential incursion threat. 
     
     
       5. The flight deck system of  claim 4 , wherein to monitor object detection data the controller is configured to analyze the object detection data to determine whether an object has been identified, type of any object identified, and whether any identified object is an incursion threat. 
     
     
       6. The flight deck system of  claim 4 , wherein the object detection data comprises one or more of: LIDAR, RADAR, camera, ADS-B, ASDE-X, ASMGS, electro-optical or infrared sensor data. 
     
     
       7. The flight deck system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine, after a TOGA trigger condition has been detected, whether the flight crew has overridden the TOGA trigger condition within a predetermined trigger condition overriding time; 
 wait a predetermined duration if override is fresh or wait a remaining time to complete a last override duration; and 
 continue to monitor for a TOGA trigger condition, when it has been determined that a TOGA trigger condition has been detected and the flight crew had overridden a previously detected TOGA trigger condition within the predetermined trigger condition overriding time. 
 
     
     
       8. A processor-implemented method in an aircraft, the method comprising:
 implementing a TOGA (take-off and go-around) triggering function having a first mode, a second mode and a third mode during approach or landing operations; 
 providing an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA trigger condition; 
 overriding an automatically triggered or coordinately triggered TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew action to override TOGA arming; 
 monitoring, by a processor, aircraft data and sensor data for a runway targeted for landing for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a potential incursion threat includes one or more of another aircraft, a ground vehicle, an animal, trash, debris, or a rock; 
 monitoring aircraft state information for a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat comprises one or more of: an aircraft hard bounce during an attempted landing; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by altitude over a threshold level; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by longer flare; a predicted aircraft long or short landing caused by a reason leading to an un-stabilized approach; a late, non-deployed, or inappropriate use of a deceleration device; an airspeed being considerably higher than a proposed approach speed for the runway; a rate of descent that is too high for a required rate of decent for landing at 3 degree slope; a dangerously excessive wind shear; a landing configuration issue; a landing gear extension problem or delay; a bank angle being too high during approach; a pitch angle being too high during approach; or a flight critical parameter being inconsistent during approach; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a first mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises that an automatic TOGA maneuver will be executed, triggering and causing the automatic TOGA maneuver to be executed if the automatic TOGA maneuver has not been overridden by flight crew action, and overriding the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a second mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver, triggering and causing a TOGA maneuver to be executed if the flight crew neither manually triggers nor overrides execution of an automatic TOGA maneuver within a predetermined period of time, and overriding the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; and 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a third mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the first mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the first mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function with sufficient flight integrity to automatically carry out TOGA for the aircraft; 
 the second mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the second mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function with sufficient flight integrity to carry out TOGA for the aircraft with flight crew preference for triggering TOGA, and 
 the third mode is used when sufficient flight integrity is not existing for an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8 , wherein monitoring for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat comprises monitoring object detection data for a runway targeted for landing for a potential incursion threat. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein monitoring object detection data comprises analyzing the object detection data to determine whether an object has been identified, type of any object identified, and whether any identified object is an incursion threat. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the object detection data comprises one or more of: LIDAR, RADAR, camera, ADS-B, ASDE-X, ASMGS, electro-optical or infrared sensor data. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8 , wherein providing an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA condition comprises providing a predetermined trigger condition overriding time for the flight crew to use to override a trigger condition before the TOGA triggering function acts on a determination that a trigger condition has been detected, wherein when overridden, the TOGA triggering function disables the detection of the specific TOGA condition. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining, after a TOGA trigger condition has been detected, whether the flight crew has overridden the TOGA trigger condition within a predetermined trigger condition overriding time, waiting a predetermined duration if override is fresh or waiting a remaining time to complete a last override duration; and continuing to monitor for a TOGA trigger condition, when it has been determined that a TOGA trigger condition has been detected and the flight crew had overridden a previously detected TOGA trigger condition within the predetermined trigger condition overriding time. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform a method in an aircraft, the method comprising:
 implementing a TOGA (take-off and go-around) triggering function having a first mode, a second mode and a third mode during approach or landing operations; 
 providing an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA trigger condition; 
 overriding an automatically triggered or coordinately triggered TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew action to override TOGA arming; 
 monitoring aircraft data and sensor data for a runway targeted for landing for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a potential incursion threat includes one or more of another aircraft, a ground vehicle, an animal, trash, debris, or a rock; 
 monitoring aircraft state information for a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, wherein a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat comprises one or more of: an aircraft hard bounce during an attempted landing; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by altitude over a threshold level; a predicted aircraft long landing caused by longer flare; a predicted aircraft long or short landing caused by a reason leading to an un-stabilized approach; a late, non-deployed, or inappropriate use of a deceleration device; an airspeed being considerably higher than a proposed approach speed for the runway; a rate of descent that is too high for a required rate of decent for landing at 3 degree slope; a dangerously excessive wind shear; a landing configuration issue; a landing gear extension problem or delay; a bank angle being too high during approach; a pitch angle being too high during approach; or a flight critical parameter being inconsistent during approach; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a first mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises that an automatic TOGA maneuver will be executed, triggering and causing the automatic TOGA maneuver to be executed if the automatic TOGA maneuver has not been overridden by flight crew action, and overriding the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a second mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver, triggering and causing a TOGA maneuver to be executed if the flight crew neither manually triggers nor overrides execution of an automatic TOGA maneuver within a predetermined period of time, and overriding the automatic TOGA maneuver responsive to flight crew override of TOGA arming; and 
 responsive to detecting a TOGA trigger condition not involving a potential incursion threat, in a third mode, generating and causing a TOGA advisory to be provided to flight crew that informs of the detected trigger condition and advises the flight crew to manually trigger a TOGA maneuver. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the first mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the first mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function and sufficient flight integrity to automatically carry out TOGA for the aircraft; 
 the second mode is used when the aircraft is configured to allow the second mode and provides an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function and sufficient flight integrity to carry out TOGA for the aircraft with flight crew preference for triggering TOGA, and 
 the third mode is used when sufficient flight integrity is not existing for an autopilot function, an auto-land function, or other similar mode or function. 
 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein providing an option for allowing a flight crew member to override a specific TOGA condition comprises providing a predetermined trigger condition overriding time for the flight crew to use to override a trigger condition before the TOGA triggering function acts on a determination that a trigger condition has been detected, wherein when overridden, the TOGA triggering function disables the detection of the specific TOGA condition. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein monitoring for a TOGA trigger condition involving a potential incursion threat comprises monitoring object detection data for a runway targeted for landing for a potential incursion threat. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein monitoring object detection data comprises analyzing the object detection data to determine whether an object has been identified, type of any object identified, and whether any identified object is an incursion threat. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises determining, after a TOGA trigger condition has been detected, whether the flight crew has overridden the TOGA trigger condition within a predetermined trigger condition overriding time, waiting a predetermined duration if override is fresh or waiting a remaining time to complete a last override duration; and continuing to monitor for a TOGA trigger condition, when it has been determined that a TOGA trigger condition has been detected and the flight crew had overridden a previously detected TOGA trigger condition within the predetermined trigger condition overriding time.